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THE COUNTRY 



A.1S1D 



ITS INHABITANTS 



A. 1.ECTXTRE 

BY THE 

Rev.J, A, Zahm.CS.C, 

Professor of Physical Science. 

Delivered before the Students of Notre Dame University, December 9, 




NOTRE DAME, INDIANA 

University Press. 
1886. 




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THE COUNTRY % 



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A.lSiT) 



ITS INHABITANTS 



^ LECTURE 



Rev.J, A, Z-AHM,C.S.C, 

Professor of Physical Science. 
Delivered before the Students of Notre Dame University, December 9, 




NOTRE DAME, INDIANA 

UniversiTy Press. 
1886, 



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I 



ALASKA. 

— * — 

THE COUNTRY AND ITS INHABITANTS. 



• I. THE COUNTRY. 

^^ENTLEMEN : Eighteen years ago last March what was known as 
^15 Russian America was, by special treaty, ceded to the United States. 

fAt the suggestion of Senator Sumner, the territory was given the name 
of Alaska, which it now bears. Alaska is a corruption of the Indian 
name Al-ak-shah, which means a great land or country. And it is indeed a 
great country. It is more than sixteen times as large as Indiana, and com- 
prises territory equal to one-fifth of the rest of the United States. It 
extends nearly twenty-two hundred miles in a direct line from east to west, 
and measures some fourteen hundred from north to south. Owing to the 
numerous islands embraced by its large archi])elagoes it has a shore line of 
upwards of twenty-four thousand miles, — considerably more than twice tiie 
combined lengths of the Atlantic and Pacific shore-lines of the United 
States. It has, too, within its boundaries tlie highest mountains, and, 
probably, the largest river on the Nortli Americcn continent. Mounts 
Fairweather and Crillon have an altitude of nearly sixteen thousand feet, 
whilst the colossus of the North — Mount St. Elias — towers up to a height 
of nearly twenty thousand feet, some thousands of feet above the grand 
peaks and volcanoes of Mexico — Orizaba and Popocatepetl. Tlie great 
river Yukon has a length of over two thousand miles, and is navigable for 
fully three-fourths of that distance. For the last few hundred miles toward 
the mouth it is often several miles in breadth, and, where it pours its waters 
into the ocean, it widens out to such an extent that one is reminded of the 
mijjhtv embouchures of tlie Amazon or Orinoco. 



The people of Indiaua consider themselves as living in the western 
part of the country, and yet they are over two thousand miles east of the 
central line of demarcation — running nortli and south — of Uncle Sam's vast 
possessions. The island of Attu, the westernmost land of Alaska, is as far 
west of San Francisco as is the easternmost point of Maine east of the City 
of the Golden Gate. Taken longitudinally, then, San Francisco would be 
the central city of the United States, whereas it is now regarded as belong- 
ing to the extreme West. 

According to the treaty, the southern boundary of Alaska is in latitude 
54° 40', which should have been the northern boundary of our Pacific 
coast line, instead of 49° as it now is. Had it not been for the stupid 
treaty made in 1846 l)y President Polk and his secretary, James Buchanan, 
who allowed Great Britain to take the intervening 5° 40', w-e should now 
have an uninterrupted coast-line from the Arctic ocean to the southern 
boundary of California. As it is, Great Britain controls some of the best 
ports on the Pacific coast, and threatens, now that the Canadian Pacific 
railroad is completed, to monopolize a great jiortion of the through trade 
between China, Japan and Europe. She has, without question, the shortest 
and most direct line, and will be able to make the transit between points in 
Asia and Europe In several days' less time than any of her comiDetitors. 
We are now beginning to see that the j^atriots of '46, who insisted on our 
northern boundary being "54° 40', or fight," are the ones whose judgment 
should have been followed. As it is, we are oliliged, in going from 
the United States to Alaska, to pass through British waters — unless we 
choose the deep, and often rough, waters of the Pacific — and can do that 
only by permtssion of "British authority. Secretary Seward felt these draw- 
backs jjarticularly at the time of the Alaska purchase, and realized them 
fully on the occasion of his \isit to this country, some years later. But the 
matter is settled, and we are forced to make the best of a bad case. 

I do not mean to say, however, that the purchase of Alaska was a bad 
bargain. On the contrary, as the years roll by we are beginning to learn 
the resources of the country, and to feel that in tlie purchase of Alaska the 
United States has added a vast, and, we may say, a rich empire to Iier 
already extensive possessions. On the occasion of a public dinner given 
him after liis retirement from public life, Mr. Seward was asked what he 
considered the most important act of his official life. He unhesitatingly 
answered: "The purchase of Alaska;" and, after a moment's pause, he 
added, " but it may take two generations before the purchase is appre- 
ciated." 

For Alaska the United Stated paid Russia $7,200,000— a little less 
than 2 cents per acre for the territory bought. At the time of the transfer 



the purchase was severely criticised by the press of the country, and com- 
mented on as "Seward's folly." Russian America was looked upon as an 
Arctic waste, a fit habitat, it miglit be, for Esquimaux and tlieir dogs, and 
seals and polar bears, but utterly useless to civilized beings. It was 
regarded as a land where the thermometer was constantly below zero, and 
where the nights lasted for weeks and months. Country editors said, in 
their wisdow, that Mr. Seward had bought an immense ice-floe, and sug- 
gested that he name it " Polaria," as best expressing the character of the 
newly-acquired territory. Even in our own day tliere are many who enter- 
tain similar ideas regarding Alaska, and look upon its purciiase as a foolish 
and extravagant exjienditure of the nation's money. 

It is indeed surprising that so little sliould be known about a country 
we have had in our possession for the last eighteen years, and which has 
attracted more or less attention ever since the time of Russia's great ruler, 
Peter the Great, who added Russian America to his then wonderfully 
organized and immense empire. 

Many are the myths and marvels connected, directly or indirectly, 
with the history of the discovery of this northern land. After the straits of 
Magellan were discovered by the intrepid navigator whose name they bear, 
and taken possession of by the Spaniards, in whose service the illustrious 
Portuguese seaman was engaged, the united efforts of rival nations were 
directed towards finding a passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific, in the 
northern part of the continent of North America, 

For two centuries English and Portuguese navigators were sent in 
search of the " Northwest Passage," which, it was considered certain, really 
existed. Spain, too, who then controlled the commerce of tlie Pacific, and 
who wished to retain her hold on her rich sources of revenue, sent out 
expeditions in search of the much-coveted passage, and many are the stories 
that iiave been told about the adventurers of bold mariners, who claimed 
that they really made the discovery of a channel leading from ocean to 
ocean — a channel to which they gave the name of " Straits of Aniau." 

Cortereal, a Portuguese navigator, sent out in 1500, claimed to have 
passed through the "Straits of Anian " by entering through Hudson Bay. 
In 1588 Maldonado, anotlier Portuguese mariner, reasserted the existence 
of the passage referred to, and said that he Iiad reached it by passing 
through the straits of Labrador. Four years later the celebrated Greek 
mariner, Juan de Fuca, in the service of Spain, was sent out by the viceroy 
of Mexico and pretended to have entered the " Straits of Anian " from the 
west, by entering the passage that now bears his name, and by going north- 
ward through what is no\v known as the "Straits of Georgia." In 1778, 
however, the great Captain Cook was sent out to the North Pacific coast, 



6 

and showed that the pretended discoveries of the navigators just mentioned 
had no existence outside of their imaginations, and tliat the so-called 
" Northwest i^assage," as described by them, was a mj^th. Subsequent navi- 
gators who have made numerous and thorough surveys of these regions 
have verified Captain Cook's observations, and the once much-talked-of 
Northern passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific is now known in history 
only as the " Fabulous Straits of Anian.'' 

True, little of positive knowledge regarding what is now known as 
Alaska was gained by the earlier navigators above mentioned, but they 
were instrumental in directing attention to this portion of the world. 
Nothing important in tlie way of discovery was accomplished until later. 
Peter the Great had in mind the exploration of the country, but died before 
he could carry out his plans. His wife, however, the Empress Catherine, 
took up the work, and it was continued by her successors, Anne and Eliza- 
beth. In 1728 the illustrious Dane, Vitus Behring, was dispatched on an 
expedition of discovery, and first passed through the straits named after 
him, and travelled mucli of the ocean between Northern Asia and what is 
now known as Alaska. He visited many of the islands of the Aleutian 
chain, and after many hardships was shipwrecked on a small island, where 
he, witli most of his crew, died of starvation and disease. This small 
island, that served as a resting-place for his remains, has been named in his 
honor, as has also the sea he explored so M'ell. 

In 1788 Gerassim Pribyloff, a Russian navigator, discovered the Seal 
Islands, the two largest of which — although they are small — have been 
named St. Paul and St. George. They at once became the centre of a rich 
fur trade, and tens of thousands of seal skins were annually taken to 
China and overland, through Siberia, to Russia. 

Strange to say, at the time of the cession of Alaska, no account was 
taken of these islands, although they have since proven to be the most 
lucrative portion of the purchase. The Seal Islands, at best, are only rocky 
patches in the ocean, and their combined areas would not be much more 
than one-eighth of one of our average-size counties in Indiana. St. Paul is 
6x13 miles, and St. George only 6x10 in extent. And yet, since 1870, 
when these rocky islets were leased to the Alaska Commeriial Company, 
the Government has realized, on St. Paul and St. George alone, over two- 
thirds of the whole amount paid for the entire territory of Alaska. The 
company has already paid into the United States treasury over $5,000,000, 
and the Government has secured an interest of more than 5 per cent, on its 
full investment. 

The islands are leased to tlie Alaska Commercial Company for a period 
of twenty years — from 1870 to 1890— at an annual rental of |55,00(). 



Besides this, the conijjany pays the Government ^:2,62i for each of the 
100,000 seal skins it is permitted to take each year. This gives a revenue 
of over $300,000 annually — a revenue that is likely to be much increased 
at the expiration of the present lease. And as tlie number of seals does not 
seem to decrease, notwitlistanding the number that is annually killed, we 
may look upon the Seal Islands as the source of a permanent industry, and 
as capable of supplying tlie markets of the world with seal skin sacques for 
an indefinite time to come. The only possibility, seemingly, of the seal 
industry ceasing to be profitable is the chance that seal skin sacques may 
go out of fashion. In the event of sucli a cliange our fur traders will, of 
course, lay the blame on fickle wouuin. 

In speaking of tlie Seal Islands I would say, incidentally, a word about 
the habitat of seals. Many persons are under the impression that they are 
found everywhere in Alaskan or Arctic waters; but nothing could be 
farther from the truth. We have, for instance, seen in some of our illustra- 
ted papers pictures of seal-flshiug and walrus-hunting amid icebergs in the 
Imy of Sitka. But the fact is, one may travel up and down the coast of 
Alaska a dozen times wsthout observing a single seal, while lie may watch 
in vjiin for one in Sitka bay for months. A walrus may not be seen in 
years. By far the greatest proportion of all the seals in the world are 
found at the foggy islands of St. Paul and St. George, where the animals 
a.ssemble in millions during a few weeks in summer, when the number 
allowed by law is taken, and their skins shipped to San Francisco, and 
thence to London, to be |)repared for the market. But these islands are far 
from the mainland of Alaska. St. Paul is 1,41)1 miles west of Sitka and 
full 2,600 miles northwest of San Francisco. 

It may interest some of you to know that Senator Miller, of Cali- 
fornia — the President of the Alaska Commercial Company, and the one 
to first call attention to the resources of Alaska— was formerly a student of 
Notre Dame. I had the pleasure of meeting him this summer, as he, with 
his family, were amoHg the pas.sengers on board our steamer, and he had 
many (juestions to ask regarding old friends still living at his Alma Mater. 
He has i)romise(l to stop off to see them on his way to Wasliington this fall. 

Besides its seals, Alaska has many other fur-bearing animals. Among 
these may be mentioned the fo.x of several species — among them the beau- 
tiful and the much-prized silver fox, — the beaver, squirrel, wolf, bear, 
marten, ermine, and the animal that furnislies tlie most valuable of furs,' 
the otter. These are found in great numbers and add considerably to the 
general industries of the country. From an early date the Hudson Bay 
Comijany recognized the value of Alaska as a land abounding in fur-bear- 
ing animals and liad numerous trading posts established throughout the; 
territorv, manv of which it still retains. 



8 

But the resources of Alaska are not limited to the fur-bearing animals, 
of which I liave been speaking. These constitute an important factor, if 
you will, but there are others that promise to be equally valuable, if they 
are not already so. Among these may be mentioned its fish, that al^ound 
to an extent that would be incredible to one who has not visited the 
country; its extensive forests of valuable timber; and its rich and unlim- 
ited mineral lodes. 

For its fisheries Alaska has become famous already, although it is only 
a few years since they were establislied. Alaska salmon have a preference 
in the markets, esjiecially those of the Pacific coast, and are rapidly becom- 
ing known in the markets of the East. Columbia river salmon have long 
retained an acknowledged superiority ; but Alaska salmon, of which there 
are several species, are far'better. From Dixon's entrance at the southern 
boundary of Alaska to the mouth of the Chilcat river— in latitude 60° — one 
will find large canneries where thousands of l)arrels of salmon are put up 
annually. And the number of these beautiful fish taken at one haul of the 
seine — and they use large netithere — almost passes belief. At one of the 
large canneries that I visited the average haul for tlie season was 1,700 
salmon, each averaging seven and eight pounds in weiglit. On one occasion 
the seine brought in 4,000. This may sound like a fish story here, but there 
can be no such thing as a fish story in Alaska. There, fact is stranger than 
fiction in matters piscatorial. The waters at certain seasons of the year are 
actually alive Avith fish, and as they move in large schools througli tlie nar- 
rower channels, a canoe scarcely finds room for passage. 

Besides salmon, various other kinds of valuable fish are found in as 
great abundance. Cod, lierring, halibut, trout, etc., are met with in all the 
waters along the coast. At Killisnoo, where we stopped for a while, and 
where there is a large cannery, herring are caught for making oil and 
guano. Here the number taken at one liaul of the net is much greater 
than in the case of fishing for salmon. I think one could safely say that 
tliere are in Alaskan waters alone sufficient fish, of the best kinds, to supply 
the markets of the world for centuries to come. 

Then, too, the large and unexplored forests of Alaska promise to 
become eventually a rich source of revenue. Hon. Wm. H. Seward, after 
his visit to the country, declared that " the north Pacific coast will become 
a common shipyard for the American continent, and speedily for the whole 
world." Although the great statesman may have been over sanguine in his 
views on this matter, it is evident to even the casual observer that he did 
not express himself as quoted without reason. On every side, from Vic- 
toria to Chilcat and Sitka, one sees immense forests of spruce, fir, larch, 
cypress, hemlock and that most valuable of woods, yellow cedar. And we 



9 

doubt not that soon the himbcr interest will here receive its due share of 
attention. The forests of Micliigan, Wisconsin and tlie Puget Sound region 
are rapidly disappearing before the woodman's axe, and it is only a ques- 
tion of time until we shall have to look elsewhere for timber lands; and 
then, if not liefore, the value of Alaska as a lumber district will be fully 
appreciateil. 

But just at present the mines of the country, especially the gold mines, 
are attracting more attention than anything else. For several years past, 
placer mining along the Stikine river, and about Juneau and Sitka, has 
been quite profitable to the few engaged in it. Within the last year or so, 
however, special interest has been e.xcited in developing the rich quartz 
lodes that occur in the neighborhood of Sitka, but more especially in those 
of Douglas Island near Juneau. Here I found, to my great surprise, what 
is said to be one of the largest (juartz mills in the world. Tliis will, I 
know, be news to most of you, as it was a revelation to me. The Treadwell 
mine, which has been quietly worked for some two or three years, now 
runs day and night 120 stamps and forty-eight concentrators. The amount 
of ore crushed daily runs up to 360 tons. The quartz crushed assays from 
#8 to $20 per ton, and the sulphurets obtained from concentrators will 
give from $80 to $150. The ledge, which crops out from the surface, is 
over 400 feet in width, and of unexplored depth and length. A horizontal 
tunnel has l)een run into the side of the hill where the ledge occurs to a 
distance of 430 feet, and a vertical shaft has been sunk to meet this tunnel. 
These show ore in sight sufficient to last the mill, now running, for years 
to come. The ore is low grade, it is true, but it is milled so cheaply that 
it pays handsome dividends to the fortunate stockholders of the mine. The 
machinery is all run by water ])ower, ol)tained from the mountain streams 
near by, and it is estimated tliat the milling does not cost more than $1 or 
$1.50 per ton. Only eight men are engaged in the mill proper, and I was 
told that six would be sufficient to do the work. Besides the stamps and 
concentrators, there are large revohnng cylinders in an adjacent building 
for roasting the sulphurets and numerous large chlorination vats for elimi- 
nating the gold from the ore after it is roasted. In another Iniilding hard 
by are two or three large retorts, where the gold is se])arated from the 
mercury, after M-hich it is melted and cast into bars or bricks. The steamer 
on which we returned from Alaska carried to San Francisco upwards of 
$100,000 in gold bricks, as the result of twenty days " cleaning up." 
Stock in the mine has never been i)ut on the market and cannot be had 
except by paying many times its face value. The owners, a few California 
capitalists, say they have " a good thing and are going to hold on to it." 

The claims adjoining the Treadwell mine are said to be equally 



10 

valuable, and are only awaiting the advent of capital to develop them. 
From present indications this prosjjerous mining camjs bids fair to become 
another Leudville— or, rather, another Virginia City, — and that, too, at no 
distant day. The amount of ore known to exist here appears to be practi- 
cally unlimited, and from my own observations I should judge that it can 
be worked as clieaply here — if not more cheaply — as it can be in any other 
mine I have ever visited. 

For some years past tlie Yukon region has received considerable atten- 
tion from prospectors; and, from discoveries already made, there is reason 
to believe that several mines of more than ordinary value have been 
located. The Yukon mines, however, will always suffer tlie disadvantage 
of a severe winter climate, wliich does not affect those along tlie coast from 
Sitka southAvards. 

Besides gold, ores of nearly all the other metals are found in greater 
or less quantities in almost every part of the territory. Coal, too, occurs, 
but, as yet, little has been done towards develoj^ing anytliing but the gold 
mines, which liere have always received, and now receive, the greatest 
attention. 

But what, it may be asked, about the climate of Alaska? The devel- 
opment, on a large scale, of some of the industries spoken of, esjiecially 
mining, will largely depend on the climate. 

Tills question cannot be answered in a Avord, any more tlian a similar 
(juestion regarding the United States. From the great extent of Alaska one 
sliould naturally expect to find a varied climate, es))ecially when one con- 
siders that so much of it is surrounded )>y water. It goes Avitliout saying 
that all, or nearly all, of the nortliern portion has a climate of Arctic 
severity, especially in the winter time. But this is far from true of the 
southwestern portion, particularly the jiart bounded by the ocean. It may 
surprise many to learn that the winter climate of Sitka and the neighbor- 
ing coast, for instance, is much milder than that of Notre Dame and the 
surrounding country, liaving the same mean temperature as Notre Dame. 
During the iifty years that records were kept by the Russians, the ther- 
mometer at Sitka was observed below zero only four times, and then only 
for a short while. Last winter, for instance, it was extremely mild, although 
it was so frightfully cold everywhere in the States. The greatest snow-fall 
there last winter was only two inches, and then snow lay on the ground 
only a few hours. Cattle remained out doors all winter without suffering 
any inconvenience. Ice scarcely ever forms on the water there, and rarely 
attains a thickness of more than an inch. Skating and sleigli-riding are 
luxuries practically unknown. At the Treadwell mine, already spoken of, 
it was not found neoessarv to shut down the mill more than two or three 



n 




IS 

days last winter. Even then it was done simply as a precautionary meas- 
ure, as the mill might have continued in operation, because the water in 
the pipes and reservoirs did not freeze as was apprehended. This, for a 
mill that is run by water-power entirely, and for this high latitude, is, to 
say the least, remarkable ; l)ut it only goes to show that the miner liere does 
not labor under such great disadvantages in winter as is popularly sup- 
posed. True, the mean aanual temperature there would be considered 
comparatively low at Xotre Dame. But then it is very uniform, never 
very warm nor very cold. In 1883 the mean summer temperature, according 
to the records kept l>y the signal service stationed there, was 53'. The 
mean temperature for the winter of the same year was 34°. In summer the 
weather during the day is somewhat like it is in the Middle States in spring 
or autumn. In the evening it is some cooler, and one then finds a heavy 
coat or wrap quite comfortable. It will cease to be a matter of surprise 
that there is there such a mild and agreeable climate, when it is remem- 
bered that the whole western coast of Alaska is washed by a warm ocean 
current, similar to the Gulf st'-«am of the Atlantic, which so tempers the 
climate of Great Britain and Scandinavia. Along the coast of tlie North 
Pacific the moderating agent is known as the Kuro Siwo, or Japan current, 
and its influence is felt way up beyond " Bchring's Strait." 

Paradoxical as it may appear, the niglits of Sitka are no cooler during 
summer than tliey are in the city of Mexico, 40° farther south. It was my 
good fortune to spend some time in the latter place, last summer a year, 
and I found that a heavy overcoat after sunset Avas not at all uncomfort- 
able. But an altitude of over seven thousand feet accomplishes for the 
temperature of the city of Mexico what high latitude, tempered by warm 
ocean currents, effects for that of Sitka. 

From wliat I have said regarding the mean temperature of Sitka — and 
the same holds good for all the coast region to tlie southeast — it can 
readily l)e inferred tliat Alaska will never amount to much for grazing or 
agricultural purposes. True, in some parts grasses grow well and attain a 
height of several feet. Various kinds of vegetables are also successfully 
cultivated here and tliere, but only in small quantities. Potatoes seem to 
thrive, as is evinced in many gardens in and about Sitka; but as to Indian 
corn and the various cereals, their cultivation appears to be out of tlie 
question. 

The annual rainfall in Sitka and all along the southeast coast is some- 
thing extraordinary to any one but a "Web-foot." The rainfall in Sitka in 
1883 amounted to eighty-one inches. 

And the way it rains in Alaska — at least along tlie southern coast ! The 
ease and self-complacency with whicli it comes on and falls, and continues 



13 

to fall, day after day, and week after week — a result acquired by coiiJ^tant 
practice I suppose — without hurry, without Ijluster, without wind or storm, 
is something that must be witnessed to be appreciated. First comes a pure 
Scotch mist, then a dense fog, then a light, gentle, drizzling rain, and con- 
tinues without any apparent effort until one imagines that it is never going 
to cease. But it does at last, often only after a long time, and then one is 
blest with a clear, light, bracing atmosphere and a bright, serene sky, that 
could scarcely be found elsewiiere in the wide world. Tlien one forgets 
the fog and the rain, and thinks only of enjoying the warmth and sun- 
shine — and one does enjoy it . 

But what about the many scenic and other attractions tiiat i)resenl 
themselves to the visitor to Alaska? A volume would not do them jus- 
tice — there are so many, new, interesting, matchless. From Victoria to 
Sitka one can make a voyage that for magniticent scenery cannot be dupli- 
cated, I opine, in any other part of the world. All along, the steamer moves 
on the calm, placid waters of the numberless inland bays, channels, sounds 
and narrows, that are linked together and hidden away among the mountains 
tliat border the mainland on the one side, and those that rise uj) from tlie 
thousand and one islands, large or small, on the other. During the entire 
trip one is exposed to the swell of the sea only a few hours, and such a 
thing as sea-sickness troubles the voyager as little as if he were on term 
Jirma. And then the magnificent and constantly changing panorama that 
one has always before him I At one time the beauties of the Scotch lakes, 
at another those of Killarnev, and Como, and Maggiore. Anon the scene 
changes, and we ixave the glories of the Rhine, and the Hudson, and the 
C'olumbia. Near by we have beautifully-wooded islands that eclipse in 
number and loveliness the far-famed Thousand Isles of the St. Lawrence, 
and the less known, but no less beautiful, islands of Northern Lake Supe- 
rior, and in the distance snow-capped mountains that rival anything to be 
seen in the Sierras or Swiss Alps. Now and then we meet pretty little cas- 
cades and lovely waterfalls, of greater or less magnitude, that seem to com- 
plete the picture. 

But this is not all. We have near us. and around us on every 
side, glaciers of every size, type and formation. They come down from 
the mountain's crest through rocky defiles and deep gorges — reminding 
one of Colorado's grand canons — and break off into the water only a 
few yards from the vessel, with a thundering noise that resembles a dis- 
charge of artillery, and form the thousands of icebergs that are visil)le in 
the watars of the North. Here we have glaciers, miles in width, at tlie 
water's edgs, and hundreds of feet in perpendicular height, and scores of 
miles in length. I have known people to go to Switzerland only to see the 



14 

Alps ; and yet in all Switzerland there is nothing to be comijared with the 
glaciers and snow-capped peaks that are found here in all their splendor 
and magnificence. The Mer de Glace, the Orindeicalcl, the Aletsch — the 
"monarch of European ice-streams" — and the Zermatt and Juncjfrau and 
Mfitterhorn j^ale into insignificance when compared with the wonders of 
Glacier Bay and the Fairweather Alps. Speaking of Muir Glacier, which 
[ had the pleasure of examining, a writer of the New York World 
lately observed that >'all the glaciers of Switzerland would not equal this 
of Glacier Bay." Lord Dufferin, speaking of the scenery of British 
Columbia and Alaska, said : "It is the most superb in the world !" x\nd 
another traveller, referring to the scenery I have just been speaking of, 
writes : "This fairyland of moving extravaganzas of scenery was an amal- 
gamation of Switzerland, Norway, the St. Lawrence, with her rapids and 
islands, the pictueresque loveliness of Loch Katrine, added to arctic won- 
ders of a high altitude of 60^." Prof. Muir, the learned Pacific coast geol- 
ogist, says of the valley of the Stikiue, which has its mouth near Fort 
Wrangle, that "it is a Yosemite 100 miles long." 

I have introduced these oiJinions of others lest some of you might 
think my account of the natural wonders of this country exaggerated. But 
it would be difficult to exaggerate what one can see simply from the deck 
of the steamer, as she goes from Victoria to Sitka. No mere descrijition 
can do justice to tlie wonders everywliere visil)le, and that follow each 
other in rajDid succession in a kaleidoscopic manner that seems almost mag- 
ical. One must visit these scenes to appreciate the sjilendor and magni- 
tude of the objects mentioned. This can now be done in a short time, and 
at a comjjaratively slight expense. Meeting the wants of tourists who are 
already beginning to drift in this direction, the Pacific Coast Company 
runs a montlily steamer from Portland to Sitka, touching at all intervening 
points of interest. The July steamer, on which I took passage, was filled 
with tourists from all parts of the United States, and they would, I am 
sure, all reiterate everything T have said about the wonderful scenery we 
witnessed during tlie whole course of our journey. The various Indian 
triljes, too, Avhose peculiar little villages are scattered all along the shore, 
the rich fauna and fiora, and the great abundance of game of all kinds — 
which makes the country a veritable paradise for sportsmen — combined 
with the nu\ny beauties and wonders I have already spoken of, will con- 
tribute to make Alaska eventually what Lord Dufferin prophesied of this 
northeast coast — "The favorite yachting grounds of the world." 

The tourist from the East can easily so arrange his journey to Alaska 
as to be constantly passing through the most marvelous scenery in the 
world. Starting from Chicago, for instance, let him take the Chicago and 



15 

Northwestern Railroad — a road famed for its accommodations ami luxuries 
of every kind — and go to St. Paul. There he will connect with the great 
Trans-Continental route — the Northern Pacitic — which will take him to 
New Tacoma on Pugent Sound. On his way he will jjass the Yellowstone 

Park the acknowledged wonder-land of tiie world. Here he will sec 

geysers, eclipsing the grandest that Iceland or New Zealand can boast of ; 
waterfalls, rivaling those of Niagara and the Yosemite; and canons, infe- 
rior, if at all, only to those of Colorado, and those made by the river of the 
same name further south and west. From Chicago to Tacoma, by the 
roads named, one will always have tlie convenience of dining cars, — the 
Northern Pacific being the only Trans-Continental road to afEord its 
patrons such a luxury, — and the most improved styles of chair and sleep- 
ing cars. From the car the traveller will see the beauties of Cceur d'Alene 
lake, and the world-renowned wonders of the Columbia River — the cas- 
cades and the Dalles. At Portland or Tacoma he takes the steamer in 
which he will enjoy about three weeks of general repose, free from the 
worry and turmoil of a busy world, and breathing an atmosphere that 
seems to possess all the invigorating properties attributed to the Elixir of 
Life, of the alchemists of old. At the end of five or six weeks, having 
passed through a succession of fairy-lands and wonder-lands, one can be 
back in Chicago and ready to enter again, with renewed vigor, upon the 
duties of life. 



II. THE INHABITANTS. 

i^pO far I have beensjjeakingto you of the natural and economic* features 
of this interesting but imperfectly known country, but have said little, 
and then only incidentally, of its people, their manners and customs, 
and of their means of subsistence. >Iany, pr()l)alily the majority of 
you, I take it, will be more interested in hearing something of the })eople 
than of the country itself. It is the people the tourist wishes to see when 
he visits a new country; and their peculiarities attract jjrobably more atten- 
tion than the country's scenery, however beautiful or grand it may be. He 
wishes to know something about their language, their traditions, their hab- 
its of thought, and their peculiar modes of living. So it is with people 
generally. They always desire a wider acquaintance with tiie various 
branches of the extensive family to which they belong. 

Before it was ceded to the United States, Alaska, as is well known, 
belonged to Russia by right of discoverv. Hence one meets in the tountry 



16 

many Russians, either native or by descent. But the number is rapidly de- 
creasing, being now only a small fraction of what it was w^hen the country 
was a dependency of the Czar. Still there ai'e found several Greek churches 
in the territory, Ijut most of them are in the Aleutian Islands. The only 
one of any consequence on the mainland is in the south-eastern portion of 
Alaska, at Sitka. It is one of the most notable structures in the town, and 
is built in the form of a Greek cross, surmounted by an emerald-green 
dome, in which is a very fine chime of bells. The interior of the church 
is quite richly decorated, and is ornamented with a number of ricli paint- 
ings of the Muscovite or Rassio-Byzantine style. There are kept here also 
some very rich vestments and candelabra; but since the purchase of the 
country by the United States, the richer vestments and ornaments have 
been returned to Russia. 

In its day, Sitka was a place of almost imperial splendor, and the Rus- 
sian governors held court here in a style that contrasted most strongly with 
tlie plain and simple democratic form of government that now obtains. 
Sitka, too, has been the seat of a Greek bishopric ; and it is the glory of 
this see that one of its bishops. Innocent Veniaminoff, was recalled to Rus- 
sia and made the metropolitan of Moscow, the highest iiosition in the Greek 
Church. Under Russian rule, Sitka had its schools, and likewise boasted 
of an ecclesiastical seminary. In its halcyon in Alaska the Greek Church 
had seven missionary districts, and counted some twelve or fifteen thousand 
communicants. But now everything is changed. The bishopric of Alaska 
has been transferred from Sitka to San Francisco, and the number of mem- 
bers belonging to the Church has greatly diminished. Father Metropolski, 
assisted l)y a deacon, has charge of the parisli of Sitka; and although his 
flock is now small, the number — composed of Russians, half-breeds, and 
others— •is still decreasing. Among the passengers who were on our 
steamer, were two of his daughters — Nija and Xenia — who had been going 
to school at the Acrdemy of the Sisters of St. Anne, in Victoria, B. C. ; 
and although Russian is their native tongue, they speak English with the 
same fluency as they do their own language, and shoAv a more than ordinary 
degree of intelligence. Like all the priests of the Greek Church in America, 
Father Metropolski receives his salary from the imperial treasury of Rus- 
sia. It may notil)e generally known, but it is nevertheless a fact, that the 
Russian Government annually sends to the consistory at San Francisco 
100,000 rubles to be distrilnited among the missions of the Greek Church 
in America, and most of this goes to the churclies of Alaska. 

Besides Russians, there is a gradually-increasing number from the 
United States. These are chiefly interested in mining, fisliing, hunting for 
furs, and in general trading. The total number as yet is not great — not 



17 




18 

exceeding, probably, in the whole territory more than a few thousand souls, 
and most of these are found in Fort Wrangle, Juneau and Sitka, and a 
few mining camps. Still, if the mines lately discovered meet the exj^ecta- 
tion of their owners — and there is every reason- to believe that they will — 
the number of people from the United States must soon be much greater 
there than it is at present. 

In Alaska, too — would you believe it^ — we tind the soon-to-be omni- 
present Chinaman. In Fort Wrangle, for instance, Chinatown is contiued 
to a large boat that used to ply up and down the Stikine River, when tlie 
Cassiar mines Were "in bonanza," but wdiich now lies on the beach as an old 
and almost useless hulk. In Juneau one meets them, and in the celebrated 
Treadwell mine, of which I have already spoken, they constitute, it would 
seem, a majority of the workmen employed in drilling and blasting. I 
have never gotten on a steamer anywhere in the territory without coming 
across some of them. Often during my visit to the country did I recall the 
prediction of the late General Gordon : that it was only a question of time 
until the Oiinese would overrun the world, and become, not its servants, 
but its rulers. And when one sees how they have taken possession in many 
parts of the Pacific coast, and how they have fastened themselves like a 
cancer on the richest and fairest parts of the two most important cities 
west of the Sierras — San Francisco and Portland — one cannot help think- 
ing the illustrious general had reason for speaking as he did. No one who 
has not witnessed their blighting influence on the parts they inhabit in the 
cities named would credit it; and no one who has not observed their untir- 
ing industry, and noted their persistence in thrusting themselves forward, 
in spite of all legislation to check them, would believe tlieir ultimate dom- 
ination among things possible. But here is a fact. It is only a short time 
since they began to come to our country in any numbers, and now between 
San Diego and Sitka, they are counted by the tens of thousands— no fewer 
than thirty thousand being in San Francisco alone, not to speak of the 
multitudes scattered throughout the United States. It is well for Eastern 
sentimentalists to talk about the equality allowed by the Constitution to all 
men, but I venture to say that if these same Utopians were to make a study 
of the "heathen Chinee," as he is found in California and Oregon, or even 
in Alaska, their ideas regarding Anti-Chinese Legislation w^ould be wonder- 
fully modified. But this is a digression. 

The major part of the population of Alaska is, of course, composed of 
the various Indian tribes who are distributed over it from the territory 
occupied by the Ilydas of the south to that inhabited by the Esquimaux of 
the north. Their number is variously estimated at from 30,000 to 50,000. 
So far, however, it is like the census of an Arabian city — something that, 
as vet, " no man has found out." 



19 

The Indian villages are for the most jiart scattered along the coast and 
the various water courses of the country. The population of any one vil- 
lage is never very large, although at certain times of the year, when the 
hunting season is over and the hunters have returned to their homes, one 
may, in a few instances, find as many as a thousand or more people living 
in one place. Unlike the Indians of our plains, they rarely live in tents, 
except when moving from place to place. They construct houses, or huts 
rather, twenty or thirty feet square — and in some cases larger — of large, 
thick, upright planks or the bark of trees, and some of tlieir dwellings, it 
must be said, show evidences of considerable comfort. As a rule, there is 
only one room in the house ; but occasionally one finds it partitioned off into 
a number of smaller rooms used as sleeping apartments. There is only one 
entrance to the house in the typical Indian dwelling — a door a few feet 
above the ground — and no windows,. In the more pretentious buildings 
one always finds a plank floor, in the centre of which there is a small de- 
pression, and an area prepared for the fireplace. The smoke ascends 
through an opening in the centre of the roof, and contrary, to what might 
be expected, the inmates are troubled with very little smoke in the build- 
ing itself. Indeed, I have visited some Indian houses that were compara- 
tively models of neatness. In the older Indian dwellings the planks used 
are split or hewn from large logs; but in those sections of the country in 
which saw-mills have been established, or where lumber can be obtained, 
sawn boards are much used, and in these cases an Indian tillage would not 
differ much from a Western mining camp in the States. Frequently, too, 
the Indians build their houses of logs, and they are so constructed as to be 
quite comfortable even during the coldest days of winter. 

Their beds consist of skins or blankets, which are placed in the corners 
and along the sides of the house, and they have usually such a large sup- 
ply of them that there is never any suffering from want of covering. 
Indeed, the average Indian's wealth in this country is measured by the 
number of skins and blankets in his possession. Some of them count their 
blankets by the hundreds, and they hold on to them with the same tenacity 
with which their distant relations in the States cling to a Government bond. 
Occasionally, iiowever, they dispose of them, but only with tlie hope of 
getting them back again with a handsome interest. 

Gift-feasts — " potlatches " they are called here — are common among 
them ; and an Indian's standing in his tribe is determined by the number of 
blankets and presents of other kinds he is able to give his guests. An 
ambitious Indian will toil and moil for years, investing all his earnings in 
blankets, with the hope of one day giving a potlatch that will outdo any- 
thing that has been attempted by his neighbors: and should he never 



20 

receive any substantial return for his generosity, he is satisfied to be able 
to tell his children and his grandchildren of the grand potlatch he once 
gave his friends. One, potlatch, however, pre-supposes another. All the 
guests who have attended a potlatch are supposed to give one also, and in 
this way their host gets back as much as he gave away, and his hope 
always is that he will receive more. If an Indian builds a new house he 
has a " house-warming " in the way of a potlatcli : if he aspires to a position 
of trust, and wishes to secure the suffrages of his fellows, he secures their 
good will, or bribes them, if you prefer it, with a potlatch. He can never 
hope to become a "tyee" (chief) without bankrupting himself beforehand 
with n potlatch, and his importance as a tyee is in a measure gauged by his 
liberality in distributing presents. When Secretary Seward Aisited the 
territory he immortalized himself among the Indians by the magnificence of 
his gifts ; and he is to this day remembered there as the " big tyee of the 
United States." 

Among the most striking objects of interest to the visitor to an Indian 
village in southwestern Alaska are their quaint and curious totem poles. 
These are large poles, thirty forty, and even sixty feet high, and of propor- 
tionate diameter, on which are carved the forms of various animals and 
birds. They are usually erected in front of the house, and an Indian's rank 
is judged by tlie size of his totem. It is a kind of a genealogical tree, on 
which is carved in a sort of hieroglyjihical language, intelligible to the 
Indians, the history of the family of the owner. In Wrangel and Howkan 
the number and size of the totems are quite remarkable. On some is 
carved — rather rudely, one may imagine — the figure of the bear; on another 
that of the eagle; whilst on the third one may see that of a whale or raven. 
On some totems, again, are found several figures, one above the other. The 
tribes being divided into different families, named after the bear, raven, 
wolf, etc., one can, by looking at his totem, see into what families an Indian 
has married, and what relation he bears to other families of his tribe. An 
Indian belonging to the family of tlie bear, for instance, may not marry 
into the family of the bear, but must look for a consort among some of the 
other numerous families of his tribe, as that of tlie eagle, the wolf or the 
whale. In making his totem the Indian, unlike ourselves, will trace his 
genealogy from his mother's side. Suppose, for example, his grandfather 
on his mother's side belonged to the raven family, his father to the eagle 
family, and himself to the bear family, his totem would have the figures of 
the raven carved at the bottom, that of the eagle next above, and that of his 
own family, the bear, would surmount the other two. But these crests or 
emblems are not confined to the toton poles only. They are marked on the 
houses, canoes, blankets, clothing, culinary utensils, etc., and, like a stamp 
or impress, they serve to indicate who are their owners. 



*il 




S5 

But it is in his canoe that the Alaskan Indian shows his greatest inge- 
nuity, and in it he takes his greatest pride. It is to him what the pony is 
to the red man of the plains, and he looks after it with as much care as 
does an Arab after a favorite steed. They are hewn out of large logs, and 
are sometimes full sixty or seventy feet long, and eight or ten feet wide, 
and capable of containig 100 persons. One of the attractions at the 
Centennial, as some of you may remember, was an Indian canoe from 
Alaska that measured eighty feet in length and about three feet in depth, 
and was designed, wlien fully manned, to liave forty i)addles on each side. 
Such a canoe, we may judge from the descrijjtions left us, tallies closely, 
in size and form, at least, with the war galleys of ancient Greece and 
Rome. But in grace and beauty, and the rapidity with which they can be 
propelled through the water, they are, I presume to say, superior to any 
galley ever seen on Greek or Roman waters. 

The average-sized canoe, however, is not more than fifteen or twenty 
feet long, and made to accommodate only three or four persons. In this, 
when the weather is fair, the Indian spends the greater part of his time, and 
almost makes it his home. In it he lounges idly, as does the Venetian in 
his gondola, and seems to take special pleasure in being carried about by 
the waves and the tide, and to be totally indifferent as to where he may be 
taken. Often he will have his children with him, and they seem to be 
fonder, if possible, of the water than their parents. They paddle with their 
little oars until they are exhausted, and then quietly lie down in the canoe 
and sleep us soundly as if they were in a cradle, or on the fur beds in their 
homes on the shore. To the native Alaskan, his canoe is everything. He 
has no other means of going from jilace to place, aside from walking, and 
even this, in most cases, is next to impossible. To travel over the rugged 
mountains or through the forests with their phenomenally dense under- 
growth is a much more difficult task than can easily be imagined. There 
are no horses nor burros in Alaska, save the few recently taken from the 
United States, and the consequence is that the natives have to depend on 
their canoes almost entirely as their only means of locomotion. Whether 
they go fishing, hunting, or on trips of pleasure, tlieir canoes are always 
brought into requisition, and seem to be a si?ie qua non of their existence. 

The Indians also show considerable skill in weaving. The blankets 
woven by tlie Chilcat* from the wool of the mountain goat and sheep are 
indeed marvels of ingenuity and coloring. They are far superior in every 
way to the best of those made by the Navajoes, about whose work so much 
has been said and written. The baskets, too, which they make from the 
inside bark of the cedar are scarcely less wonderful, whether one considers 
the figures worked on thcni, the harmony of colors displayed, or the sub- 



23 

^f^lal cliaractcr of the work itsulf. Many of the native!^ also e\ince 

ced taste and talent in the manufacture of jewelry. The curiously 
^ned and engraved rings, bracelets and trinkets, of the Ilyda Indians 
(leciallv, are curiosities of art, which sometimes even i)ear the stani]) of 
tenius. 

And then I must mention tlicir masks and dancing costumes. For 
weird, grotesque, fantastical, unsightly designs in costumes, and particu- 
larly in masks, the commonest "siwash" — the general name for Indian — 
exhibits an originality that would l)e hard to parallel anywhere else in the 
world. In the paraphernalia used, the (bmces of the Indians of the States 
l)ear no comparison with those that arc frequently witnessed here in the far 
Xorth. 

In disposing of their dead, cremation among the Indians is the rale 
rather than the exception. The corpse is put on a pile of logs and con- 
sumed amid tiie wails and weird, lugubrious, imearthly chants of the 
assembled multitude. The few handfulls of aslies that remain are gathered 
up and i)ut in a sack and deposited in a little box, which is placed upon a 
frame in any site that may be selected. Sometimes one will meet such a 
box, or depository, all alone, far up the side of a mountain ; again it will 
be seen on the shore near the water's edge, and still again the boxes will 
be found together in large numbers. Such is the case in Sitka, where the 
Indians have a regular cemetery, if such it can be called. 

And what do the Indians live on^ it maybe asked. The answer is 
simple: They subsist almost entirely on game and tish, the latter being 
emphatically their staff of life. During the summer they gather berries, 
which are here found in great variety and abundance; but vegetables and 
cereals they have none, and never make any attempt to cultivate them. 
Their favorite fish are the salmon and the halii)ut, but they seem to prefer 
the former — probably because it can be more readily obtained. These they 
prepare and dry in summer for the winter's use, and their total supply of 
provisions in many instances consists simply of dried salmon. As one 
passes through their village in summer one will see everwhere the bright 
red salmon drying on frames made for the purpose, and his mind naturally 
reverts to the exhibitions of Chili Colorado that are so conspicuous in parts 
of New and Old Mexico. As a delicacy, the oolican, or " candle fish " is 
much prized, It is, however, (juite a rarity, and found in only a few local- 
ities. It derives its English name from the fact that it contains so much 
oil that on being dried it can be ignited and burnt as a candle. The oil 
actually exudes from it as it dries. 

Are any fish stories told in Alaska^ Yes; but the reality so far sur- 
passess the fictitious in other parts of the world that if one were to state 



24 

simple facts he would at once be denoiniuated a Munchausen. In passing 
fi'om the bays into the narrower channels the fish often go in such large 
schools and move with such velocity that some of them are actually 
crowded on to the shore, where tliey die or sujiply food for the various 
birds of prey which there abound. The Izaac Waltons there will tell you 
that at certain seasons of the year the fish are so aljundant that one can fill 
a boat in a short time with a simple pitchfork. Or again, they aver tliat 
in j)assing up the rivers or tlirough the narrow channels the lisli crowd 
together so compactly that one can easily cross over on the bridge formed 
by such a blockade without getting his feet wet. Some of you may think 
this is drawing a pretty long bow ; but if you have any doubts about the 
tfuth of tlie statement you are resi^ectfully referred to any of the numerous 
anglers who have visited Alaska during the past half decade. 

Living on tish, and leading the comparatively lazy lives they do, the 
natives have a fat, oily appearance, although taken as a class, they will 
compare most favorably in phyHquv to any of the Indians of the South. As 
a rule, they are more industrious, and are always ready to work for a 
consideration. Indeed in tlie mines and fisheries they take their jilace 
beside the white man, and do as much work as the latter, and do it equally 
well. 

Tliey are good hunters and skilful trajjpers; but they engage in these 
pursuits not so much for the meat which they oljtain as for the furs which 
they secure, and of Avhich they always know the full value. One may go 
into almost any Indian hut and find a collection of furs; but one makes a 
big mistake if he thinks he can get a good skin at a nominal price. Tourists 
to Alaska are surprised and disappointed at finding the natives demanding 
as much, and more, for furs than one would be asked for them in New York 
or London. An Indian there, on being asked the price of a silver fox skin, 
will say "ten dollars," and count four, five or six fingers, meaning he wants 
so many times ten dollars for the skin. For an otter skin he will ask you 
from $80 to $140, the price depending on the quality. And there is no 
use in exjjecting a reduction of prices. All tlie Indians seem to have a 
scale of prices and an iron-clad agreement to abide by the same, and it is 
simply loss of time to talk about getting an article offered for sale for less 
than the price first demanded. A "Siwash" will row from Sitka to 
Juneau— a distance of nearly two hundred miles — if he thinks he can get 
a few more cents on one or two skins. Time and rowing seem to be no 
object to him, and he will keep his furs for a year or more, or transport 
them hundreds of miles, if there is any iiossibility of getting the slightest 
advance in price. And this is not because he is so poor, or because he 
rarely sees monev. All the Indians have money, and some of them can 



25 

count tlieir shekels up to $5,000 or $6,000, or more. Hut tliey always take 
good care to keep their treasure concealed, and will not allow even any of 
the members of the family to know where it is kept. 

The Indians of southwestern Alaska seem to be a happy and contented 
people, and there is no reason in the world why they should be otherwise. 
They can always secure an abundance of food with little or no exertion, 
and the climate is so temperate the year round that they never suffer from 
either heat or cold. Tiiey need only kill a few fur-bearinc^ animals — and 
that they can do with little ditKculty — and thus secure the means of buying 
the blankets and other articles of clothing they require, and still liave 
money left for other purchases they may desire to make. As a rule, the 
Indians of this section of the country, contrary to what might be supposed, 
are much better provi.led for by bountiful nature than are any of the tril)es 
of the United States or ^le.xico. • 

Through the efforts of the missionaries, .schools and cimrches have 
been established here and there, and the natives are gradually being brought 
under the beneficent influences of Christianity. But here, as in the states, 
the missionary's greatest obstacle to success, after overcoming the diabolisni 
of the shamfiim, or medicine men, is the white man. In Alaska, as else- 
where, promiscuous intercourse of the races lias a most demoralizing effect 
on the natives. The Indian contracts all of the vices of the white man 
and acquires none of his virtues; and the only hope, apjjarently, of evcir 
successfully educating and Christianizing him is to keep him isolated from 
those who should be his helpers, but who, in reality, are his destroyers. 

Alaska belongs to the diocese of the Most Rev. Archbishop Seeghers, 
of Victoria, B. C, who is probably the greatest living authority on the 
country and its inhabitants. He has spent two years in exploring the 
Yukon region, and has recorded his observations in a large manuscript 
work, which, it is to be hoped, will soon be given to the ])ress, as there can 
be no doubt that it would prove to be the most interesting and instructive 
work on the country yet written. His Grace is now making efforts to pro- 
vide the more important i)Osts with priests, and hopes soon to have schools 
in the larger towns in charge of Brothers and Sisters, or both. Tin; field 
may not seem inviting, the work may appear formidable; but the charge 
could not be entrusted to better hands than those of the learned Arch- 
bishop who has already accomplished so much in this part of the world for 
the good of Education and Religion. 

Whence came the people I have just been speaking of { is a (piestion 
every visitor to the country asks himself, time and again. Theories 
by the score have been ])r()pounded, but none of them seem to give a 
satisfactory answer to the (juestion. One ethnologist, basing his spccu- 



26 

lations on tlieir (■arvings and hyeroglyphios, will tell you that they are 
the descendants of the Indians driven out of Mexico by Cortez, and who 
are said to have migrated to the North. Another, relying on a resemblance, 
real or fancied, discovered in the roots of certain words occurring in the 
languages spoken by the natives of the country and in those of the inhab- 
itants of Japan and ('hina, concludes that the Alaskans, generations ago, 
came in some way or other from Japan or China. Still another, comparing 
the manners and customs and languages of the aboriginees on either side 
of Behring's Straits, and keeping in mind the fact that there is at the pres- 
ent day constant intercourse between the inhabitants of the two continents, 
dnds strong and seemingly conclusive reasons for believing that the Es(|ui- 
maux and all the tribes of the northern portion of the American continent, 
came directly from Asia, by crossing the narrow channel that separates the 
Old from the New World. This theory certainly seems the simplest and 
most satisfactory, and will, I doubt not, eventually prove to be the true 
one. 

The question of pitting Alaska in telegraphic and railway communi- 
cation with the rest of the world has often been discussed, and the erection 
of a telegraph line was actually commenced twenty years ago. The West- 
ern Union Telegraph Company' spent |8, 000, 000 in reconnoitreing some six 
thousand miles of country intervening between the southwestern corner of 
Britisli Columl)ia and the Amoor River in southeastern Siberia, with a 
view of connecting l)y wire the United States with Asia and Europe. 
After, however, the demonstrated success of the Atlantic caljle, about 
which electrical engineers before had grave doubts, the matter was 
dropped. Still the preliminary surveys showed the feasil)ility of erecting 
the line, although it would be difficult and expensive. 

The question, too, of running a railroad from New York to St. Peters- 
burg and London (via Behring's Straitsj has likewise often been discussed. 
Now that the Canadian Pacific is completed, it would not be such a diffi- 
cult matter, the advocates of the scheme maintain, to continue the road to 
some point on Behring's Straits — Port Clarence, for instance — which could 
then be connected ]>y ferry with tlie Asiatic side of the Straits. The road 
could then be prolonged through Sii>eria to the Amoor River, and thence 
carried on to connect with the road that the Russians are now building into 
their Asiatic possessions. It is one of the things, say the sanguine pro- 
jectors of the road, that must be done sooner or later, as the lines of the 
world's travel and commerce will never be complete without it. 

The objection raised about the difficulty of crossing Behring's Straits 
on account of icebergs does not seem to have any foundation in fact, as 
icebergs are never known to come so far south, being prevented by the 



strons; inflowing current from the South Facitic towards the Arctic Ocean. 

Will tiic road ever be more than a day-dream:' From wliat is already 
known of the country which it is to traverse, we cannot say that its con- 
struction would be impossible. Just now, however, there seems to be no 
special use for it; but if there were, and if it could be sliown that it would 
pay good dividends, one would l)e safe, I tliink, in hazarding the prediction 
that the necessary capital ami enterprise would not be long in forthcoming. 

Ours is an age of surprises and wonders. Only a few decades ago 
nearly all our vast domain west of the Missouri was put down on the map 
as the " Great American Desert." But, thanks to the enterprise and indom- 
itable courage of our pioneers, this hits been changed. What wa.s for a 
long time regarded as a useless waste has been converted into the fairest 
and most productive portion of our great Republic; and where, not more 
than a few years ago, the only signs of human habitation were the wigwams 
of the savages of the plains, we now* find the most attractive and prosperous 
cities of the Union. May not a similar change be wrought in the part of 
the world of which I have been speaking? Who knows? In our age of 
steam and electricity, it is almost rash to predict anything as impossible to 
the genius of progress and civilization. What has been accomplished in 
the plains of the West, under many adverse circumstances, and what has 
been effected among the "Rockies" and the Sierras of the farther West, 
may reasonably be looked for in the distant North, where many of the 
difficulties which the advance guard of pioneers had to contend with else- 
where are measurably less, and Avhere some of the conditions of ultimate 
success are more propitious. In view of these facts, one w'ill be safe, I 
tiiiidv, in predicting that, at no distant future, Alaska will be a prized gem 
in Columbia's crown — a conspicuous star in the bright galaxy that consti- 
tutes the United States of America. 



Founded in 1842. 




Chartered in 1844. 



